About This Object
A splendid pair of neoclassical style cast bronze chandeliers,
English, early 20th century.
Why we like them
Designed with the confident use of Robert Adam's neoclassical vocabulary, highly popular in the late 18th – early 19th century, these stunning chandeliers are 'grand on a small scale' – tremendously impressive and superbly decorative. Great heavy quality, useful proportions, very versatile: can be used with wax candles or fitted for electricity. Measuring 28.25 in / 72 cm across, they are suitable for rooms of various sizes, as the drop can be adjusted with an addition of a required length of chain.
Very similar festive ram masks, issuing the acanthus-wrapped sconce arms appear on a silver candelabrum made by John Carter of London, in 1774 to Robert Adam's design dated 9 March 1773 for Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn at 20 St James's Square (Soane Museum, vol. 25, no. 126). Robert Adam and his brother James were involved in designing a wide range of furnishings and fittings, from an organ case to an inkstand, for which they billed Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn £1388 13s. See Geoffrey Beard, The Work of Robert Adam, London 1978, p. 55, fig. 172.
For the cultivated 18th century connoisseur, such examples of neoclassical design would naturally have provided a reminder of the Antique treasures of Italy, commemorated alike in the superb illustrated volumes of Piranesi and Cavaceppi.
Currently unwired, but can be fitted for electricity to buyer's requirements.
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